Conventional off-the-shelf type AA and AAA batteries tend to deteriorate in performance over time during storage. This can pose a serious problem where the reliability in performance of the batteries is of critical importance—for instance, in an emergency situation where the batteries are required to power a flashlight, a radio, a mobile telephone, or other potentially life-saving electronic device.
In seeking to address this problem, water-activatable batteries have been developed which can be stored for a relatively long period of time in an inactive state (that is, where water has not yet been mixed with the electrolyte powder mixture within the battery to activate the electrolyte powder mixture) without substantial loss in performance of the battery when the battery is subsequently activated by addition of water.
However, existing water activated batteries also exhibit certain drawbacks including that the structure and material composition of such batteries is still considered by some to be unduly complex and more costly than may be necessary to produce in volume. The structure of existing water-activated batteries is also such that parts of the batteries may be accidentally lost, thus rendering such batteries useless. This of course is undesirable particularly in an emergency situation.
Furthermore, during production of batteries, problems tend to arise in filling the battery casing with electrolyte powder. Specifically, when the electrolyte is being poured into the battery casings, the electrolyte powder tends to dog up the delivery channel which needs to be frequently cleaned out. This problem with clogging of the tube introduces unacceptable delays and inefficiencies in the production of batteries and affects the overall cost of production.